Page 4 - LatAmOil Week 37

LatAmOil COMMENTARY LatAmOil

Dominican Republic pushing

ahead with gas hub plan

AES Dominicana says tests of its floating storage programme have shown positive results

GOVERNMENT officials in the Dominican new president – the centrist Luis Abinader,
Republic have been saying for years that they who succeeded the left-leaning Danilo Manila
WHAT: want to see their country become the main hub in mid-August – appears to be as keen on the
Tests show that floating for LNG trade in the Caribbean basin. scheme as his predecessors have been.
storage will help the AES They have backed plans to use the Andrés He is also fortunate enough to have taken
subsidiary use the Andrés LNG import terminal at Caucedo, launched office at a time when the country is actually
LNG terminal to re-export by the local affiliate of US-based AES Corp. in moving forward on the LNG front.
and transship gas. 2003, as the basis for a coastal natural gas com-
plex. The proposed facility would be capable of Floating storage tests
WHY: importing LNG for regasification and domestic Earlier this week, AES Dominicana said it had
These test results buoy consumption and also of re-exporting LNG to finished testing plans for using floating stor-
the country’s hopes of other countries in the region. age as an integral component of the LNG hub
becoming a regional gas Dominican officials have touted gas as a more scheme.
hub. environmentally friendly alternative to residual In a statement, the company said it had
fuel oil (RFO), the heavy petroleum product that launched the testing programme to assess the
WHAT NEXT: has long been the main feedstock for Caribbean feasibility of using a methane tanker to store,
Co-operation with AES thermal power plants (TPPs). Additionally, they export and transship LNG from the Andrés ter-
Colón could be followed
by negotiations with other have described the region as an ideal destination minal. The programme involved the hiring of a
gas suppliers looking for US gas producers seeking new markets. methane tanker – the Golar Seal, with a storage
for market share in the So far, progress towards this goal has not been capacity of 160,000 cubic metres – on a tempo-
Caribbean. swift. Nevertheless, the Dominican Republic’s rary basis.

P4 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 37 17•September•2020